


The musician’s soul

by sweetheartshumjr



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Brother Feels, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Theseus Scamander, Hurt/Comfort, Music, Playing on the piano, Protective Newt Scamander, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 14:26:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17082011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetheartshumjr/pseuds/sweetheartshumjr
Summary: Day 7: Playing the piano





	The musician’s soul

**Author's Note:**

> All thanks to my amazing beta [knaveryact ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/knaveryact)

In the living room there was a piano Mrs. Scamander loved to play whenever she found a little bit of time. Over the years she gave it her best efforts to teach their sons, too, but neither of them paid much attention, to be honest. It fascinated them to see the music come out of the instrument with nothing but a few pressed keys, and it was relaxing, but they never felt about it as strongly as she would’ve wanted them to.

Newt wasn’t a big fan mostly because he grew uncomfortable as his mother stood or sat right beside him when she’d be showing him how to play, fixing all the wrong movements, or taking his fingers off the keyboard. It involved too much touching, he thought.

Theseus, on the other hand, simply didn’t have enough time. The eldest of the Scamander brothers had to perfect everything he started, and it would frustrate him when he’d mix up a note, which happened often. After few tries he would give up, deciding that it was simply not his thing.

That’s why, when Newt walked down the stairs and heard the piano, he assumed it had to be his mother. She had a habit of playing something before she went to the farm, to relax or to wake up the boys. After a moment, though, when Newt’s mind cleared up and he completely awoke, he realized that couldn’t have been her. It was already way past the time she always left the house.

Curious, Newt slowly crept into the living room and much to his surprise he found his older brother sitting at the piano, playing. Instead of approaching him, he decided to stay in the doorstep and listen.

He soon realized the song was not one he ever heard. The songs he knew best were classics, like Beethoven or Chopin.

Newt preferred calm and slow music, letting him get lost within the notes. All those lively melodies just made him anxious.

Meanwhile, Theseus would always choose the quick melodies with a lot of hard variations. He treated it like a challenge. But the melody he has been playing now was different. It was… sad, melancholic, and very uncharacteristic of him.

Of course, it could have been an improvisation. Both of the brothers were skilled enough to do that, even if it wasn’t Newt’s forte. But even then Theseus would play something fast and quick, like polka. This, though, sounded more like a slow sonata. Newt felt a little worried about his brother. It simply wasn’t like him.

Their mother always said that music shows what’s in the musician’s soul. And from what Newt was hearing, Theseus seemed to be quite sad about something. What could that be, though, he couldn’t possibly know. While Newt knew he rarely showed emotions, and especially when compared to his brother, Theseus was better at hiding the sad ones from them. He would hug everyone and smile at people, but inside he could be hurting.

Newt sighed sadly to himself.

Suddenly the music stopped, but Theseus hasn’t moved from the chair. He just kept sitting, staring blankly at the keyboard, clearly lost in his thoughts. Realizing he can’t just stare like this forever, he decided to finally approach him.

“Morning, ‘Seus,” he said, quietly.

Theseus’ head whipped in his direction. For a moment Newt was sure he saw a hint of fear in his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, covered by a typical Theseus smile.

“Morning, Newtty!” He said, turning to his brother. “Did you eat breakfast yet?”

Newt dropped his eyes on the floor, almost chuckling. He was so predictable sometimes. Whenever mum wasn’t around, he’d take to babysit him.

“Um, no,” he answered truthfully. “Piano woke me up, so I came downstairs to see who’s playing.”

He risked a quick look at his brother. He was smiling but there was something off with it, which made Newt even more worried. He also has felt a little pang in his heart. He thought that after their talk, back when Theseus was sick… Newt hoped Theseus would finally stop acting like he’s fine all the time, and yet here he was, doing the exact same thing. Again. But truth be told, it wasn’t as if Newt was any better at emotions.

“Yeah, sorry I woke you up,” Theseus said, averting his gaze.

“It’s all right.” Newt really wanted to do something, to help, to do anything, actually. If their mum was home he’d simply go to her, and tell her he’s worried, so she would go and talk to Theseus instead. But she wasn’t, and they were all alone, and he had to deal with this himself.

He fought the very strong urge to run to the kitchen and instead sat down next to his brother. Theseus didn’t even try to hide his surprised face, but he stayed silent. Newt kept staring at the piano keys, wondering what to say.

“What was it? I didn’t know this song,” he asked finally.

“Oh, I was improvising. Had to clear my head,” Theseus said, shrugging, almost as if he was trying to wave it off. That caught Newt’s attention.

He really wanted to ask his brother what happened, and what got him so worried, but he knew well enough how this would go. Theseus would conjure up a neat little lie, smile, hug him, and tell him not to worry. That he’s the older, and Newt should deal with this. But inside, he would still be hurting, which Newt could tell just by looking.

They sat like this for a moment, silent, until Newt started thoughtlessly hit piano keys. After the first few notes, he realized they weren’t random after all; he was playing the first tacts of Beyer’s no. 8, a melody he and Theseus played together sometimes. Newt wasn’t much of a fun of this, to be fair, but Theseus loved this quick melody.

After few more notes, Theseus joined him. As the song filled the house, the uncomfortable feeling Newt felt earlier in his stomach eased up a little, especially after he glanced at Theseus and saw he smiled again. Surely he was able to move aside his own issues for a minute or two to make his brother feel a bit better.

By the time the song reached its peak, Newt heard Theseus laughing. Newt took another quick look at him, and then he smiled proudly.

It was really amazing what music could do.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and yell at me on tumblr @shumscamander


End file.
